TOSH McKINLAY last night urged any swithering Rangers fans to forget about boycotting Scotland’s World Cup qualifier against Serbia.

And he asked them to make Hampden a full house out of respect for the career Ally McCoist had with the national side.

Rangers manager McCoist has implored the Ibrox support to see the SFA and Craig Levein’s team as two separate entities and not shun this weekend’s match in protest over the anger felt towards the governing body.

And his one-time Celtic rival has endorsed McCoist’s sentiment while recalling how much Ally helped him when he made his Scotland debut at age 29.

McKinlay said: “I was working on the building site that was going to be my family’s new house until 10pm the night before Scotland were due to play Greece at Hampden.

“Then I got a phone call from Tommy Burns telling me Craig Brown had drafted me into the Scotland squad and was going to start me the following day.

“I’ll always remember the coach journey from the team’s hotel in Troon to Hampden and how relaxed Ally was about everything.

“He did more than anyone to settle me before that match and then went out and scored the winning goal.

“Hampden will be a special place for young players like Paul Dixon, Jordan Rhodes and Gary McKenzie on Saturday.

“It would be nice to think the ground will be full to capacity and the Rangers fans heed Ally’s words about putting aside differences between their club and the SFA.

“I loved it as a kid when I went with my dad to Wembley every two years, particularly the time one Scotland fan pretended to be slapping an England supporter on the back.

“What he was really doing was drying his false teeth on the back of the bloke’s jacket.

“Those were the kind of laughs you got when there was a sense of the Scotland fans being in it together.”

McKinlay can only hope the success he had after that first, unexpected cap he earned while with Celtic is repeated by Levein’s proteges.

He said: “Within three years of that game against Greece I had 22 caps and had played at the finals of Euro 96 and France 98 in the World Cup.

“But what I’ll always remember is the first game and the unique atmosphere at Hampden. There’s nothing better than standing out on that pitch and hearing a full house belting out Flower of Scotland.

“We’ve been away from the main stages of international football for 14 years and that’s far too long for Scotland. In football, as in life itself, you have to grab opportunities when they present themselves.

“I hope the likes of Dixon can play as well as I’ve seen him do before.

“He can whip in a good cross and is a man after my own heart when it comes to getting forward from defence.”

McKinlay knows there’s enough strain on Levein without any internal rows involving the team and the fans who won’t support them because they feel Rangers didn’t get the SFA's help when they needed it.

He said: “The national manager has to cope with all sorts of pressure. Home advantage has to be crucial in the opening match of a qualifying group.

“If we handle that first step efficiently then we could be off and running for the remainder of the group.”

McKinlay was speaking at First Glasgow’s launch of the bus service they’ll be providing to take Scotland fans to Hampden on Saturday.